Western Governors Encourage National Guard Troops and their Families to Enroll in TRICARE Health System (7/28/06)
Western Governors Encourage National Guard Troops FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Chris McKinnon, 303 623-9378 Western Governors are encouraging their National Guard and Reserve members and their families to begin enrolling in the expanded TRICARE Reserve Select (TRS) program. Congress expanded TRS to provide healthcare to more National Guard and Reserve Members. Enrollment opens on August 1, 2006. The TRICARE system, a managed care program of the U.S. Department of Defense, was created in the early 1990s as a better way to provide health care services for active duty military personnel and their families and for military retirees and their families. It receives its funding as part of the annual defense budget, which is approved by Congress and signed by the President. In June, Western Governors adopted a policy resolution regarding the need for a comprehensive health care solution for National Guard personnel. In the resolution the Governors urge employers to assist their Guard and Reserve employees with their cost share for TRICARE healthcare services and they support efforts to increase the federal share of premium costs of National Guard enrollees in TRICARE. The Governors applaud the healthcare providers in the Western Region that currently accept TRICARE patients and urge more providers to join in serving the nation's citizen soldiers. In addition, the Governors have encouraged the federal government to streamline the process for health care providers to become TRICARE providers. TriWest Healthcare Alliance administers the TRICARE Program for National Guard troops and families in 21 western states. Currently, an extensive network of providers exists in each state to provide for the healthcare needs of the men and women in uniform - a total of 105,000 providers across the West. The TRICARE program is divided into three roughly equal regions, but the West is fortunate to have nearly half of the 220,000 providers in the national network. The TRICARE Reserve Select program expands the benefits to all selected reserve guardsmen and reservists, rather than limiting coverage solely to those who have been activated for more than 90 days supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, or Noble Eagle. Effective October 1, 2006, every member of the National Guard will have access to TRICARE healthcare coverage on a cost-share basis. The Western Governors' Association is an independent, nonprofit organization representing the governors of 19 states and three U.S.-Flag islands in the Pacific. Through their Association, the Western governors identify and address key policy and governance issues in natural resources, the environment, human services, economic development, international relations and public management. # # # # #
and their Families to Enroll in TRICARE Health System
July 28, 2006